Abstract
Purpose :
Advances in technology are facilitating the electronic distribution of information, especially via auditory formats. While auditory formats may be convenient and economical, they may not be most beneficial for comprehension. In fact, previous research has shown that reading rather than listening leads to superior comprehension among sighted individuals. Two possible explanations for this benefit in comprehension exist: (1) Visual processing is fundamental for reading comprehension, or (2) Reading text is more physically-engaging than listening, leading to better comprehension ability. This study contributes to this debate by comparing reading and listening comprehension between sighted individuals and blind, braille readers.
Methods :
31 sighted (18-64 years) and 32 blind (19-71 years) individuals participated. A novel, free-response comprehension test was created and tested for accuracy in measuring reading comprehension among the sighted and blind participants using item response theory procedures. The test consisted of four different biology passages and eight free-response questions per passage. Passages were given to participants in two different presentation formats: printed text or hard-copy embossed braille, and human voice actor recordings. The questions and presentation format-passage topic pairings were counterbalanced and randomized. The dependent measure was performance on the comprehension questions.
Results :
Linear mixed-effects regression analysis was utilized to assess differences in average comprehension ability between presentation formats for both participant groups. For sighted participants, average comprehension was significantly better using text (mean=0.748; 95% CI: 0.705-0.791) than listening to a voice actor (mean=0.697; 95% CI: 0.654-0.740; p=0.0198). For blind participants, hard-copy braille (mean=0.704; 95% CI: 0.633-0.775) yielded significantly better average comprehension than the voice actor recordings (mean=0.619; 95% CI: 0.547-0.690; p=0.028).
Conclusions :
The findings support the theory that receiving reading materials in a more physically-engaging manner improves comprehension. These results have direct implications for how to distribute scientific information in educational settings, which is particularly important for the blind community, as currently-used assistive technology primarily presents reading materials in auditory formats.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.